Tag: breath

Have you ever been passionate about something? I mean, like vehemently. I feel like this time in my life is a time of new beginnings. It’s become a fire in me.

It’s been a while since I’ve written an original poem following a poetry form. I had to give my try at this quadrille after reading a fellow bloggers post over at A Reader Writr. The poem is in response to a prompt over at dversepoets.

So, back to my question to you: Have you ever been passionate about something? If so, what?

Like this:

Sometimes when I listen to the Christmas song, ‘Breath of Heaven’ (music video in the first comment below) I start to cry. I think it’s because of the simplicity of it and the way that Mary addresses God, “Breath of Heaven”. She was just a young girl when an unexpected visitor showed up and shared a message with her that essentially changed the entire course of her life. She was engaged to be married to a simple carpenter, and she herself, was just a simple girl – that loved God.

As she silently prays to her maker, she’s extremely vulnerable and expresses to Him just how scared she is. She knows that the world is a cold place and she is feeling all alone. And rightly so. Imagine being in her place. A virgin, engaged to be married, in a society where it is absolutely unacceptable and punishable to have had sexual relations before marriage. And now she is carrying the son of God.

She pours her soul out to the only one that could possibly understand what she is going through. God, hold me together (I’m losing it). God, be forever near me (I feel so lost). God, lighten my darkness (the stone cold reality of this world is blinding me and I can’t see you). God, pour over me your holiness (for you are the only one that can ease my anguished heart).

I think it’s amazing how she addresses God as, “Breath of Heaven”. The word breath signifies life. Every bodily function depends on breathing as breathing is the most fundamental of all the body’s systems. It’s at the very core of life. When one stops breathing, one dies.

She also recognizes that she’s weak. She doesn’t see herself as one that is wise enough to be carrying such a serious responsibility. But the beautiful thing is that, even though she’s full of doubts and considers herself as unwise, it didn’t matter to God. What mattered was that she was willing to offer all that she is. What mattered was that she had a heart of humility and recognized she needed His strength, and not her own.

*Note on the art piece: Baby’s breath is considered symbolic of everlasting life and purity. I thought it apropos to include it in the star and around the border in response to the song and reflection.

I’m so sorry I’ve been absent. I was away for almost a week and had very little internet access. Plus, it’s summer here in Brazil and the kids are out of school and we will be traveling from the the 26th to January 10th. Once again I will have very little internet access. During this time I won’t be posting, but I will try and visit your blogs when I can get access to the internet and the time to do so.

I wish you all a very merry Christmas and a Happy new year celebration.

This poem was written in response to The Reverie’s weekly prompt, which is the song, “Bones”, by MsMr. As soon as I heard the song I fell in love with it. I knew I couldn’t let this one pass, so here it is.

I love to create. I believe we were made to create. It’s like a driving force within. There’s a certain high that comes with creating something. The inspiration high.

I have become a fan of the Ted Talks. I don’t like much of what is on TV, so when I want to relax and watch something, I go to YouTube and put on a Ted talk. Recently I watched the one by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of ‘Eat, Pray, Love’. She spoke about creativity and how it could be divinely inspired. She shared the following:

In ancient Greece and ancient Rome people did not happen to believe that creativity came from human beings back then. People believed that creativity was this divine attendant spirit that came to human beings from some distant and unknowable source for distant and unknowable reasons. The Greeks famously called these divine attendant spirits of creativity ‘Daemons’. Socrates famously believed that he had a Daemon who spoke to him from afar. The Romans had the same idea but they called that sort of disembodied spirit a ‘Genius’, which was great because the Romans did not actually think that a genius was a particularly clever individual, they believed that a genius was this sort of magical divine entity who was believed to literally live in the walls of an artist’s studio … and who would come out and invisibly assist the artist with their work and who would shape the outcome of that work (source).

Now I don’t believe that there are genius’ in the walls, but I do believe that creativity and inspiration is divine. Something that has been carved – breathed – into each of us. Like I mentioned in a past post, we all have an impulse to create. It’s in our veins.

Do you love to create? Do you believe that we were made to create? Where do you think creativity and inspiration comes from?